01 Ram van 3.9 wont start

My neighbors 01 ram van 3.9 cranks but wont start, here is what he described to me. He was driving to work and suddenly it started to run like a diesel and finally died out. I told him to check to see if you can hear the fuel pump running. He said yes you can rear in priming once key is turned. He said he tried a couple shots of starting fluid in the throttle body, still no start. Sounds like a no spark issue. Could this be a possible coil or crank sensor? I also forgot to mention when it died out it was also puffing black smoke out of the exhaust.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.